The "Banater topicality" keeps you informed about 'the Banat without Banater Swabian,' as well as what this German race recently achieved in in South Eastern Europe. It also informs Banat Swabians who have returned to the motherland of anything happening of interest.

The 'Banater Topicality' also acts as a counter balance to the information coming out of our Heimat via the internet, where everything that was once German in the Banat is now concealed, even the technical achievements of the Germans.

You can download parts of the 'Banater Topicality' onto your computer, too, and use it as documentation or for press material. The author is to be indicated in all publications or excerpts.

About the series on the latest news of the German Banat villages:

The history of the German settlement in the Banat has now reached its end. For over 250 years the Germans made their mark on rural life. Through their hard work and industriousness they transformed the barren wasteland into the bread basket of Europe. They also made their mark on the hedgerows and mountain areas. The German farmers introduced a high standard of living here with their progressive agricultural methods, so forming an example for other ethnic groups in the Banat. The German civilization was soon taken up by the indigenous population. The Romanian villages of the Banat, too, reached a high cultural level which was incomparable to that of the old Romanian kingdom. This was even pointed out by the Romanian sociologist, Cornel Grofsorean, on the annexation of the Banat to Romania.

During the years of the communist dictatorship, however, this blooming landscape was downgraded until it became a 'poor house'. The Germans were no longer seen in their former role, but now only as 'the enemy of the State.' The consequences were deportation, dispossession, persecution and finally the economic ruin of the once prosperous German population. As these people became strangers in their own country, they saw their return to the motherland as the only way out, and at any price.

The following portrayals about the decline of the German villages should be viewed as a 'Requiem' for our old Heimat. With the death of the Germanness of the Banat, the villages, too, are becoming extinct. What remains are only memories of the old Heimat, and we should preserve these for ever!

Village Listings Included in the Series
http://www.banater-aktualitaet.de/aktuell.htm

I was born in Lippa on March 13th 1935 in Lippa, Banat, and grew up in Temeschburg where I was also educated. I began my professional career as a telecommunications technician in Kronstadt (Transylvania) and Reschitz (Banat) and completed it in Temeschburg(http://www.banater-aktualitaet.de/tms.htm0. I married Gerlinde Hengelmann from Rekasch (http://www.banater-aktualitaet.de/rekas.htm) in 1968 and am the father of two daughters, Gerlinde and Gabriele. I ended my professional career at the German Federal Postal Administration in Munich.